Pie 17.0

Back to savory! I know–you’re surprised. Why would I go back and try a savory pie after the Jerk Chicken debacle? Here’s the secret: I wanted to squeeze mashed potatoes out of my new frosting bag.

Bring on Pie 17.0, “Lost Shepherd’s Pie,” a concoction that started with complex mashed potatoes and ended with a meat base that looked like the child of sloppy joes and meatloaf, but with richer flavors for the nose and pallet. I loved this pie.

I do enjoy peeling. I like to use my little paring knife to try to make one long peel. My daughters have tried to convince me to move on to one of those scraping peelers. It’s just not the same feeling of accomplishment to have a pile of a thousand scraps instead of my long and twirly peels.

Chopping onions is also quite fun. I hardly cried at all. Tonight when I make my Thanksgiving stuffing, I’ll chop another onion. It’s good to plan your life around happy moments, to anticipate them as I do the chopping of my next onion. BTW, the chopped onion did not go into the potatoes. I just couldn’t wait to show it to you.

The cooked potatoes were hand-mashed and mixed. The recipe warned against beating them with a mixer because they’d become too gooey. I followed the directions like a good little cook, but next time I’m going for the creamy mashed potato option. Read on and you’ll understand why.

I made this pie in the morning. Mashed potatoes for breakfast. Yum.

The meat cooked slowly in many stages in my favorite pan. This pan and I go back more than 30 years. In fact, I’ve probably cooked more than 6000 (>30 x 365 / 2) dinners in this pan. Twice during the cooking process, I thought “That’s it. I ruined my pan. I’ll never get this dried goop off.” But then the magician recipe writers saved the day. At one point the directions told me to add red wine. It acted like a perfect solvent and swiped the bottom of the pan to shiny silver (and made a sauce or gravy). And right at the end, I had to add a bit of A1 sauce. I wondered why it had to be added at the very end. The bottom of the pan had once again looked hopeless, but the A1 wiped it clean. Amazing. I have used a bit of water in the past to moisten dried out concoctions. From now on, it’ll be wine and A1.

The meat layer went into the lightly greased dish first.

The potatoes were piped on top. I spent some brain waves choosing the frosting tip. I used the one in the middle. I also used my paring knife a couple dozen times during the potato piping to unclog chunks of potato lumps from the tip. So, yeah, next time I’m whipping those mashed potatoes with the electric beater.

A delicious savory pie. She surprised me with her beauty and deliciousness.